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Committee on Diversity (CoD) Minutes
February 25, 2013
Committee members in attendance: Aislinn Melchior, Amy Ryken (Chair), George
Tomlin, and Carolyn Weisz.
Meeting called to order by Chair Ryken at 8:30 AM. Because of the small attendance,
we deferred approving minutes of February 11th until the next meeting.
Announcements:
Ryken acknowledged the successful hire of Chief Diversity Officer/Dean of Diversity
and Inclusion Michael Benitez who will become a resource to the CoD.
Ryken and Weisz also described the 2-hour diversity workshop held with the Board of
Trustees on February 14th. Ryken described the goal as raising awareness and generating
dialogue and reflection.
Chairs Meeting on April 24th:
Ryken told the committee she had spoken to Dean Bartanen and that we would have
about 50 minutes to talk about diversity in the curriculum with department and program
chairs at 8 am on April 24th. CoD members discussed revisions to the handout Ryken
had created and issues to cover in the meeting. CoD members discussed whether the
conversation should be broad or more focused, and decided on a middle ground. It was
decided that the handout should include information about requirements at other
institutions, data from CoD’s examination of Puget Sound 5-year curriculum reviews,
ideas about possible structures of such a requirement, and questions including the central
issue of what the learning goals for students should be and what themes related to
diversity should be reflected in the title of a curricular requirement.
In reviewing responses to the 5-year curriculum review questions, CoD members noted
that most responses were framed in relation to language in the University’s mission
statement related to knowledge of self and other and/or to multicultural awareness, and
that a smaller number of departments articulated an intentional focus on systemic issues
of power, privilege, oppression, and/or equity – issues critical for preparing students for
democratic citizenship.
CoD members also discussed what feedback we wanted from chairs and directors and
identified the following questions. What requirement or courses would fit with or
enhance your departmental curriculum? What is happening in your department currently
that the CoD may not know about (e.g., may not be in your 5-year curriculum review)? It
was also noted that the Office of Institutional Research might have information about
diversity in the curriculum, and Ryken indicated that she will talk to Ellen Petersen about
this.
Ideas about the purpose and structure of the requirement were discussed. Advantages of
a graduation requirement included reaching every student, providing infrastructure
attention and resources for course development and refinement, and the role that
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curricular focus might play in recruitment and retention of underrepresented students and
faculty. Several structural options were discussed. CoD members felt that models of
optional curricular enhancement such as developing or identifying optional “diversity
pathways” in the core lacked the ability to reach all students and risked pigeonholing
diversity courses. It was noted that students who currently seek out diversity-related
courses are able to find them, but many students do not do this. CoD members thought a
model requiring a single common course for all students would not be supported by
faculty or reflect the range of teaching interests of faculty.
Two models considered promising were a) a one-unit overlay graduation requirement,
and b) a two-unit overlay model requiring one lower-division and one upper-division
course. In both cases, courses could be taken within or outside of the core, and particular
courses might be developed, recommended, and/or required by departments for majors.
It was noted that internships and/or independent study experiences might also be used to
fulfill these requirements. Ryken agreed to incorporate these changes into the document
for consideration at the next CoD meeting.
Chair Ryken announced that Donn Marshall and Pepa Lago-Grana would attend the next
CoD meeting to discuss work by a committee on the topic of undocumented students.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:30 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Weisz